Expressing deep concern over the delay in scrapping the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, the Kerala Water Resources Minister, Mr P. J. Joseph, today urged national parties to spell out their stand on the issue. “This is an issue that concerns millions of people living down stream the unsafe dam. There should not be any delay in building a new dam after de-commissioning the existing one,” he told reporters at his home town Thodupuzha.

“The national parties should make their stand clear and the issue should also be debated in parliament,” he said.

Frequent tremors in Idukki district, where the dam is located, had intensified the fears of the people about the danger posed by it, he said.

In view of recurrence of mild tremors in the area, the Government would hold tomorrow a meeting of experts to discuss reports on the situation drawn up by the Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS) and the core technical team on Mullaperiyar, headed by a former chief engineer, Mr Joseph said.

According to official reports, as many as 22 mild tremors and after vibrations occurred in parts of Idukki and adjoining Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts since January this year.

The dam was built when the area was part of the Travancore princely State and Tamil Nadu under the British rule.

It has since then been a major irrigation source for the agricultural belt of southern Tamil Nadu districts.

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